


Falling Like The Stars

by CasualMaraudering



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Drabble Collection, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:21:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 11,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21958045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CasualMaraudering/pseuds/CasualMaraudering
Summary: A collection of drabbles, starring Sirius and Remus (and often many others).12. “Missing out on playtime just to say hi to daddy, huh?” Sirius says, his voice high and affectionate as he holds Leo up to squint at him with a smile.“Bwah!” is Leo’s only reply, followed by more giggles. Sirius’s smile is so wide it hurts.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 36
Kudos: 154





	1. The med student

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s all James’s fault, really. He was the one that insisted to get Sirius to hospital; Sirius feels _fine_ , thank you very much. Sadly, James tends to be as worrisome as their mum, so he shoved Sirius out of the flat and drove him to the damn hospital. Sirius thinks it’s a waste of time, both his and whatever unfortunate doctor is there to check on his leg.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Tracy, the unfortunate darling, based off a real life experience XD  
>   
> Theme: meet-cute in a hospital

Sirius hadn’t exactly _planned_ to be sitting on a hospital cot on Christmas Eve of all days. It’s 10pm, close to 11, even, and he’s got eggnog and Love, Actually waiting for him at home. The last thing he really wants is to be stuck in hospital right now.

It’s all James’s fault, really. He was the one that insisted to get Sirius to hospital; Sirius feels _fine,_ thank you very much. Sadly, James tends to be as worrisome as their mum, so he shoved Sirius out of the flat and drove him to the damn hospital. Sirius thinks it’s a waste of time, both his and whatever unfortunate doctor is there to check on his leg.

“Sorry for the wait. Hospitals get a fair share of our own Christmas rush, and there’s not many staff members around.”

Sirius turns to look at the doctor that’s just entered the room.

_Holy shit._

The man looks young, Sirius’s age even - way too damn young to be a doctor, but if Sirius is about to be scammed, he _really_ doesn’t mind. His brown curls are resting on his forehead, almost touching his eyes, with gold and ginger highlights whenever the light hits the man’s head. His face is covered with small freckles and a few scars, or as much Sirius can see them behind thickly framed glasses he’s wearing. He has a warm yet shy smile that makes Sirius’s stomach flip a couple times. _And_ he’s wearing a festive shirt under his white coat.

Long story short, he’s _exactly_ Sirius’s type, and Sirius feels he might be in love already.

“So, what brings you here on Christmas Eve,” the man looks down at the small pad he’s holding. “Mr. Black?”

“Oh, please. Mr. Black was my father, and he wasn’t the most pleasant of men. It’s Sirius. Like the star.”

His lips curve in a smile. “Well then, Sirius,” hearing the man say his name makes Sirius’s heart beat twice as fast. He’s lost to the world already. He could die happy now. “What seems to be the problem?”

“Uhm, my ankle? Or leg, in general. I don’t think anything’s wrong, but my brother insisted I get it checked.”

“And what happened to it?” 

Sirius feels his cheeks redden. “I, uhm… I was walking through my flat and I guess… I tripped. On my feet.”

Sirius can clearly see the man is trying his hardest not to laugh. “That’s… unfortunate. Let’s take a look at the damage you did to it.”

All throughout the examination, Sirius shamelessly stared at the man - R. Lupin, his badge said - working, and hoped he’s not as obvious as he thinks he is. Or maybe he should be very obvious. Sirius doubts someone as breathtaking - and smart, because _hello, he’s a doctor -_ as Lupin could possibly be into men, because Sirius is never that lucky; but what he _is,_ is stupidly shameless and straightforward, so he has every intention of finding out. 

“Seems like everything is fine,” Lupin says, letting Sirius roll down the cuff of his jeans.

“You’re awfully young for a doctor, Dr Lupin,” Sirius answers instead, casually leaning back on the cot. 

Lupin smiles. “Oh, no, I’m not a doctor yet. I’m in med school, still. Just here for work experience. And it’s Remus.”

_Remus Black wouldn’t sound too bad…_

“On Christmas Eve, of all days?”

“Someone has to be,” Remus smiles at him. “We get quite a few people tripping over their own feet.”

_And he’s witty. It’s meant to be._

_Here goes nothing._ “I would promise it won’t happen again, but I don’t mind breaking a leg just to see you again.”

Remus looks taken aback for a moment, and Sirius is about to mumble an apology and hurry out, but then the man scribbles something down on his pad, rips a small piece of paper out of it, and hands it to Sirius.

“You can just call me instead, no need to break any bones. It’d quite like to have you in working condition,” Remus says, and winks - _winks -_ and then he’s out of the room.

Sirius is out of the room in no time, meeting James in the waiting area.

“Let me just say,” Sirius says to him before James can bombard him with ‘are you okay’s. “Taking me here was the best idea you’ve ever had.”

“What? Was there something wrong with your leg?!”

“No, it’s all good, just like I told you,” Sirius grins at him. “But I landed myself a date with a hot med student.”


	2. The babysitter's boyfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, any plans for this fine evening, Moonbeam?”  
> Remus rolls his eyes, but he can’t help his mouth curling into a smile. “Actually, I was planning to finish a book, but then my stupid boyfriend showed up uninvited.”  
>   
> Theme: Remus babysits, Sirius comes over

Remus honestly hasn’t expected Sirius to listen to him (he never does, because Sirius  _ never listens),  _ but he still sighs as he sees the teen casually leaning against his motorbike, right in the middle of the Weasley’s driveway. 

“I told you not to come,” Remus says to him as Sirius skips towards the house, but he still opens the door wider to let him in. 

Sirius beams at him in reply. “I knew you’d need company. The brats asleep already?”

Remus babysits for the Weasleys every other weekend; not only is it extra money (not much, but it’s not like Remus expects to be paid a fortune being a seventeen year old minding kids for an evening), but he’s grown extremely fond of the little Weasley boys - they’re not too much trouble, and stick to their bedtime, so Remus can spend his evenings reading while he waits for Mrs Weasley to get back home from work.

Or at least that’s what he’d usually do, but of course, Sirius couldn’t take a  _ ‘no, I can’t hang out tonight, I’m babysitting’  _ for an answer.

“They are, and you still shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh c’mon Moons, live a little. Who’s gonna tell Molly about this? Billy and Charlie, who are asleep right now?” Sirius raises a brow as he makes himself comfortable on the couch, settling his bike helmet and jacket on the coffee table. 

Remus sighs, but makes his way back to the couch, to which Sirius smiles brightly. 

“So, any plans for this fine evening, Moonbeam?”

Remus rolls his eyes, but he can’t help his mouth curling into a smile. “Actually, I was planning to finish a book, but then my stupid boyfriend showed up uninvited.”

“Oh, so he’s stupid for giving you something to do right now?”

“And that something is-?”

“Him, obviously,” Sirius grins. 

Remus rolls his eyes again with a sigh. “We’re not doing that.”

“Yes we are.” Sirius scoots himself closer to Remus, pecking him on the lips once. “It’s obligatory.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes! All the movies always have the babysitter’s boyfriend come over and they snog on the couch. I’m here, the brats are sound asleep, we’re on the couch, it all adds up.”

“Isn’t it always the horror movies, though? And if I recall correctly, it’s the boyfriend that always gets killed first,” Remus says with amusement, raising a brow, “Are you willing to die for this?”

“Anything for you, love,” Sirius purrs as he captures Remus’s lips in-between his own.

Remus kisses back with a smile, relaxing enough to tangle his fingers into Sirius’s hair, his other hand toying with the hem of his shirt. With a bit of manoeuvring, Remus ends up lying on his back on the couch, Sirius in-between his legs, their bodies pressed hot against each other.

Sirius is busy sucking a mark on Remus’s neck - high enough Remus won’t be able to hide it, and the bastard knows it - and his hand sneaks underneath Remus’s sweater when Remus pulls away. 

“You’re getting too handsy,” Remus chuckles breathlessly, Sirius tracing his nose along his neck, knowing it tickles. Remus digs his heel into Sirius’s back in warning when Sirius’s hand keeps on moving. “There’s kids in the house, sleeping.”

“They’re upstairs, they won’t hear shit.”

“Sirius.”

“We’ll be quiet,” Sirius says - in a whisper, as if to prove his point, taking his hand from underneath Remus’s clothes, only to start undoing his jeans.

“This is Mrs Weasley’s couch, you degenerate,” Remus hisses, kicking him. 

“She won’t know. You said she’s back at 10, right? That’s an hour, we’ve loads of time.” Sirius looks at him from underneath his long lashes, and Remus already knows he’s lost this battle. 

With a sigh, he lets his head drop back, and he starts unbuttoning Sirius’s shirt. 

“You’ll be explaining if she comes home early.”


	3. The Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m never leaving this room again,” he groans.
> 
> “What did they say?!” James asks, bouncing on his bed, gaze fixed on his brother.
> 
> Sirius just groans more. “It was the worst experience of my life. _The worst.”_
> 
>  _“What_ was it?”
> 
> Sirius sighs, dropping his hands from his face but absolutely refusing to look at James.  
> “It was… y’know.. about _things.”_
> 
> Theme: Euphemia and Fleamont giving Sirius The Talk

James and Sirius are busy trying to piece together a dragon out of lolly sticks (and _a lot_ of glue) in James’s bedroom, when Euphemia and Fleamont enter the room. At first, they don’t even notice their parents, but then Fleamont clears his throat, to which they look up.

“Sirius, would you mind coming with us into the office for a little bit?” 

Sirius’s expression drops in an instant, memories of his birth father’s office flooding back; harsh words, his mother’s yelling, all the punishments. _Oh God, no._

Euphemia seems to catch on to his thoughts, because she adds quickly: ‘You’ve done nothing wrong, love. We just want to talk to you about something.”

Reluctantly, Sirius nods, and follows his parents to the office. They sit on the leather couch together, while Sirius takes a seat on the plush chair next to it. He’s not sure what they want to talk about, especially since it’s something they want to discuss without James present. His birth family, maybe, but what’s there to talk about? Unless his parents finally kicked the bucket, he’s not interested.

“We thought it’s the right time to talk to you about… something important,” Fleamont says to him. Sirius simply nods. “You and Remus have been going out for a little while now, haven’t you?”

Sirius nods again, this time biting back a smile. He feels extremely fortunate that his and James’s parents are open and tolerant of his sexuality; he’d never think he’d be able to be so casual and straightforward about it as he is. They’ve never treated it any different than James and his crush on Lily - they tease and encourage him just like James, and Remus is a welcome sight at their house (even if Sirius has to have his bedroom door wide open whenever his boyfriend is over).

Sirius even remembers Euphemia making one hell of a fuss when she learned Sirius would be going on his very first date with Remus (something he might have been _a little_ nervous about. Just a little bit, because he _really_ likes Remus so fucking it up was out of question); she helped with clothes, took pictures, and even helped Sirius pick a boquet of flowers - James laughed his ass off, but Sirius is sure their mum is going to do exactly the same thing when Lily finally agrees to go out with him.

“Well… you see… you boys are going to be 17 soon.. and at that age, when you two like each other as much as you do… you might… start to get… curious. About certain things.”

Sirius feels his cheeks get uncomfortably red as the reason _why_ he was dragged to the office clicks into place. And somehow that’s worse than being scolded for doing something stupid.

“M-mum, that’s really not necessary-” he goes, but Fleamont puts up his hand at him to silence him.

“It really is. We need to know you’re being safe. Now, have you and Remus started being sexually active yet?”

_Oh God._

**

The first thing Sirius does when he’s back in James’s room is slide against the door, his face in his hands as he slumps onto the floor (he can still feel his cheeks burning; his face is likely as red as James’s crimson bedsheets).

“I’m never leaving this room again,” he groans.

“What did they say?!” James asks, bouncing on his bed, gaze fixed on his brother.

Sirius just groans more. “It was the worst experience of my life. _The worst._ ”

“ _What_ was it?”

Sirius sighs, dropping his hands from his face but absolutely refusing to look at James. 

“It was… y’know.. about _things.”_

“What things?”

“You know!”

“No I don’t! Just tell me!”

“It was the fucking sex talk, okay?” Sirius spits out in a hurry. “They bloody sat me through a half hour lecture on gay sex! _With pictures!”_

James blinks. And then blinks again. 

And then, like the twat he is, breaks out into a laughing fit.

“Holy shit,” he stutters out, unable to breathe, while Sirius internally curses him for everything. “I can’t fucking believe, _oh my God.”_

“Well you didn’t have to be there,” Sirius hisses out. “I’m never showing my face to them again, _ever._ ”

_“This is the best day of my life.”_

“Just you fucking wait til Evans finally agrees to date you! Then you’ll have to sit through the same bullshit.”

Sirius’s phone rings, then. He pulls it out to see it’s Remus - perfect, he has someone to complain to (even though Remus will probably laugh as well). He answers the call and puts it on speaker.

_“I fucking hate you.”_

“Hi to you too,” Sirius mumbles, throwing a bracelet at James, who’s still giggling to himself. “I had a fucking awful day, why do you hate me now?”

_“Your mum called my parents this morning."_

“Why?”

_“Apparently she was ‘concerned’ about the time we spend alone and wanted my parents to have a conversation with me. Do you know how fucking awkward it was to sit through my very straight and middle aged dad explaining anal to me?!”_

Sirius’s face goes red again, and James breaks out into anther fit of hysterical laughter.

“Oh trust me, I can very well imagine, seeing as I just had the exact same conversation.”

_“Is that James in the background?”_

“He’s a cock.”

“This really is the best fucking day in my life,” James breathes out, his face red from laughing, tears streaming down his face. “Holy shit, I need to mark this in my calendar. This is better than when Wormtail grabbed McGonagall's ass on accident.”

_“Tell him to shut the fuck up.”_

“I can hear you, Moonbeam,” James replies, going to sit down next to Sirius. He tries throwing his arm around him, but Sirius kicks him. “Well… you wanted to go to that camping trip next week, at least you’re covered in case anything saucy happens.” 

“I fucking hate you,” Sirius says through his teeth. “Go fucking die.”

“Did they really have pictures?”

_“And did they also show you how to put a condom on?”_

James starts giggling again; Sirius kicks him for the second time.

“No, _thankfully_ , but I’ve been given a pack with a wink and a _‘don’t enjoy the camping trip too much, there’s only 12 of them in the box’_ , so that’s that. I won’t be able to look them in the eye for a week.”

James snorts. And again, Sirius kicks him.

And just as he thought, he can’t look at Euphemia and Fleamont without his face burning for the entire weekend. 

When he's finally leaving for the camping trip, Fleamont pats him on the back knowingly, and Euphemia winks with a giggle.

Sirius can’t stop blushing til he’s halfway to the camp site.


	4. Aubergine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m, uh… looking for a bath bomb? Something that doesn’t have an overpowering smell would be the best?”
> 
> He doesn’t need yet another bath bomb, but if spending an additional £30 is the price of getting to talk to this guy for a few more minutes, so be it. 
> 
> Theme: Lush employee Sirius

“Hi! Can I help you find anything?”

Remus has every intention of turning towards the worker and saying _‘no, thank you, I know what I’m here for’,_ because every time he gets into any sort of interaction with a Lush employee he spends twice as much money as he originally intended. He needs to learn self-control and just not let all those bubbly, nice smelling people sell him stuff he doesn’t need. 

He plans on doing that, but then he actually turns to face the worker, and all those plans exit Lush, while Remus stays promptly rooted in his spot.

The man is _gorgeous_ , like breathtakingly, impossibly beautiful, and handsome, to the point Remus feels it should be fucking illegal. He’s tall (though that might be due to the quite sizable Doc Martens he seems to be wearing), with gorgeous, shiny black hair that falls down past his shoulders in a perfectly styled way, even though he couldn’t have put that much effort into it since he’s working - which means it’s just this good naturally (again - _illegal_ ). He has the facial structure of a pure aristocrat mixed with a marble renaissance statue, with high cheekbones and a perfectly round chin and a jaw sharp enough to cut right into Remus’s heart and steal it without a single obstacle in place. There’s not a wrinkle or imperfection in sight, which tells Remus he must be similar age to him - a college student, most likely. Or maybe a model, with a face like _that._

There’s his _lips_ , round and full and pink, curved into such a cute smile (how is this man both _hot and cute?!_ ), with perfectly straight and white teeth showing, his canines ever so sharper than a usual person’s; and his _eyes,_ which are gray and Remus never knew gray eyes could be so lively and expressive and nice to look at.

And then Remus sees the tattoos on the guy’s arms, then piercings in his ears, the black polish on his nails, the black (and impossibly tight) ripped jeans, the dog tags on his neck. He internally curses the heavens because he has never met a man that’s as much his type as this random Lush guy.

Who asked him a question and Remus hasn’t replied, and he’s making an idiot out of himself. 

It’s not like he had a chance with _Mr Bloody Fucking Perfect_ to begin with, but now he just seems more pathetic.

“Yes, actually,” he mutters quickly. “I’m, uh… looking for a bath bomb? Something that doesn’t have an overpowering smell would be the best?”

He doesn’t need yet another bath bomb, but if spending an additional £30 is the price of getting to talk to this guy for a few more minutes, so be it. 

_God, he really is pathetic._

“Oh, that’s this way, if you wanna follow me real quick,” Mr Perfect - Sirius, his badge says (even his fucking name is interesting) - says to him in a chipper voice, then goes deeper into the store, Remus following behind.

They arrive at the bath bomb section, and Sirius squints at him with a smile, then turns to the bath bomb rack, picks something up, and turns back to Remus, with the item behind his back.

“How do you feel about bergamot oil and sweet tonka?”

Remus has no fucking clue what _tonka_ is. “Sounds good, I think?” he says, because honestly, he doesn’t care, he’ll buy whatever his gorgeous boy offers him.

_If only he offered something else,_ Remus thinks, and then mentally slaps himself, because being creepy about strangers isn’t on his to-do list today. He really needs to let Lily drag him to a bar one of these days, if only to forget about gorgeous Lush employees.

Sirius smiles at him brightly. “It’s a Valentine’s special, particularly favoured by… certain customers,” he explains, with a cheeky grin. “And I think you might find it up your alley.”

He then shows the bath bomb that he’s had behind his back - it’s shaped like an aubergine. And Remus has been around the block enough to know what Sirius is insinuating. He feels his cheeks turn hot red - has he really been staring so openly?! 

“Uhm,” Remus mutters, because really, he’s not sure what to say. ‘ _Yes, that’s perfect, glad you noticed I’m very thirsty for you and three seconds away from begging you to fuck me’_ doesn’t seem like a socially acceptable answer.

“Oh,” Sirius’s grin drops suddenly, seemingly startled. “I’m sorry, Sir, that was really uncalled for,” he reaches to the shelf to put the item back. “I’ll go get someone else to assist you, I apologize for being so unprofessional-”

“Wait wait wait,” Remus says quickly before the boy can flee. “It’s fine, really! I just… I wasn’t-”

“It’s not fine, I shouldn’t have assumed, I was just…” Remus might be crazy, or Sirius is _blushing_. “I thought… I saw you here a few days ago and I think you’re really cute, but I never got the chance to talk to you and I was really bummed, but you came in today again so I thought I need to talk to you now or it might never happen again so I decided I’d ask to help you and maybe find out if you’re interested in guys by any chance? I mean, that was a stupid fucking way - fuck, I shouldn’t swear on the job. Or hit on customers. Jesus, dad is gonna fire me,” Sirius rambles, which makes Remus chuckle.

“I am. Into guys, I mean,” Remus replies with a shy smile. “And I don’t really need a bath bomb. I just wanted an excuse to talk to you a bit longer.”

Sirius smiles a smile so happy Remus feels his stomach turn; he could get used to this smile.

“Really?” Remus nods. Sirius reaches back for the bath bomb (Remus rolls his eyes at it - it is quite funny now). “So… how about that - I’ll ring this up for you, with an employee discount, and then maybe you can give me your number so I can come over to yours and test it out with you? Tonight?”

“I guess it’s true that Lush really cares about customer service, huh?” Remus asks back with a grin.

Sirius grins right back. “I’m very determined to make employee of the month. So, what do you say?”

“I hope you have good taste in bath bombs.”


	5. First kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’ll see you at breakfast,” Sirius says, kisses him again, and turns to quietly leave.
> 
> He can see himself already growing addicted to kissing Remus.
> 
> Theme: First kiss

“Hey,” Sirius says, sitting down next to Remus’s bed in the hospital wing, placing the Invisibility Cloak on the bed (seeing as he’ll have to leave in a few minutes anyway). Remus seems to have dozed off for a moment before Sirius came, judging by the state of his hair and the grimace on his face - he’ll dull off to sleep again soon enough, Sirius is sure. He’s well acquainted with Remus’s post-moon schedule by now.

“Hi,” he replies, his voice croaky with sleep - in the most cute way, Sirius thinks. “Was it bad?”

“Not really,” he answers. “Moony jumped into some shrubbery, so you’ve a few more scratches than usual, but other than that you’re as good as new.” 

“Where are Prongs and Wormtail?” 

“Back in the dormitory. Dead asleep by now, I bet,” he replies, nervously glancing around. It’s the first time he’s come to check on Remus by himself first thing after the moon. 

And the fact they’ve just had their first date a few days ago doesn’t exactly calm his nerves. Not to mention they hadn’t even discussed it; Sirius has no idea whether Remus had fun at all. They were taking a walk around the village together, and then there was an accident (something in the Alchemy store blew up, and for the first time in his whole life Sirius wasn’t happy about an explosion) and the Hogsmeade visit was cut short - and just as Sirius gathered the courage to grab Remus’s hand as well. They were rushed back into the castle, and then somehow had no opportunity to be alone, and the full moon came and Sirius still has no idea if he’s got a chance for a second date (and maybe a third. And a few more). 

He thinks Remus seemed to be enjoying himself, but in all honesty, he has no idea - he was a nervous wreck the whole day.

Remus squints at him. “You’re awfully quiet,” he comments. 

Sirius shrugs in what he hopes is a nonchalant manner. “You need rest. Don’t wanna disturb you.”

“Or,” Remus raises a brow with a small smile - Sirius feels his stomach flutter. “You’re thinking about Saturday.”

Sirius inhales sharpy, hoping Remus doesn’t notice. 

“Did you have fun?” he asks, his eyes examining the wall of the infirmary very closely, as he fiddles with a bracelet on his hand.

“Do you think I didn’t?”

“Dunno,” Sirius replies quietly. “You see-” he says, and then stops himself. Then sighs, takes a deep breath, and risks looking at Remus. “I really really like you a lot. And I dunno if you had fun cause I was too busy being nervous - I didn’t meant to, and I realize I made things awkward a lot but that’s cause it was with _you_ and I didn’t want to screw it up because I like you so so much and I want you to be my boyfriend maybe if you didn’t hate the date too much or at least go on a second date and I promise I’ll be less weird and-” he rambles on and on, feeling his cheeks burn red, until he hears Remus chuckle softly.

And then Remus sits up, and reaches for his hand - Remus is _holding his hand. And he’s smiling!_

“You didn’t screw it up at all. I was also nervous,” he says, blushing - Sirius thinks he’s died and gone to heaven, because this is already so much like all the things he daydreams of. “I really like you too. A lot. And I would very much like to be your boyfriend, and go on another date.”

“Really?” Sirius asks in disbelief. Remus nods with a smile.

Sirius exhales, all the nerves disappearing from his body - instead, there’s a pleasant, warm feeling in his stomach, like something soft and fuzzy. 

“You should go,” Remus says, nodding towards the door. “Madame Pomfrey will come to check on me soon, you’ll get yourself landed in detention.”

Sirius nods, gets up - and then gathers all of his Gryffindor courage, leans down, and quickly kisses Remus. 

It’s just a swift peck, maybe two, three seconds, and yet his heart starts pounding, and he feels his lips tingle in the most fantastic way. 

He grins when he pulls back, seeing Remus’s stunned expression. 

“I’ll see you at breakfast,” Sirius says, kisses him again, and turns to quietly leave.

He can see himself already growing addicted to kissing Remus.


	6. Little star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sirius can tell he’s feeling exactly the same thing - the love and happiness unlike any other before. 
> 
> And they get to feel it together. Sirius can’t ever imagine starting a family with anybody else. It could ever only be them two.
> 
> “Navi Hope Black.” 
> 
> Theme: With their new baby

“I can’t believe just how tiny she is.”

Sirius can _technically_ hear James babble into his ear, but he himself can’t process the words. He’s too busy looking at the tiny baby lying in the cot.

He’s never thought babies are _this_ small - honestly, he’s sure this is the smallest little human he’s ever laid his eyes on.

And it’s _his_ baby, Sirius has to remind himself for the 10th time within the last two hours. His daughter. He’d never think it’d be possible. He’s accepted never having a family at 14, when he figured out he’s gay; not once would he think there’d one day be a mix of spells and potions to make it possible. 

Yet there they are, after 9 unbelievable months - though Marlene would say unbearable, with what she had to go through (Sirius heard many things about giving birth, and Marlene just went ahead and confirmed all the worst rumours). 

“I can’t believe I pushed her out of my vagina.” _Speak of the devil._

“You’re ruining the moment,” James hisses.

“Excuse you, you’ll have a lifetime with this kid all thanks to me,” Marlene snarks back.

“We really owe you,” Remus says quietly, his hands ever so gently touching the baby’s feet. “Honestly Marls, we haven’t thanked-”

“None of it,” she says quickly. “I wanted to do this because you two deserve to have a kid, you don’t have to pay me back or owe me or any bullshit like that. Call it returning the favour for Sirius helping me with Transfig in sixth year.”

Sirius turns back to the baby as he hears her stir, making small noises. There’s already a handful of inky black curls on her forehead - she’ll end up looking just like himself, Sirius reckons. 

Hopefully she’ll have Remus’s brains. And some sense of rational thinking would be good too. 

A Moony-esque personality. That would be good.

“You think she’ll make Prefect one day? Like you?” Sirius finds himself asking, smiling at Remus.

“With our luck, she’ll most likely turn out just like you. A troublemaker with no filter and a face too pretty for her own good.”

“Minnie will be thrilled.”

“She’ll retire,” Lily comments from the other side of the room. 

“No way! My daughter needs proper education. Only Minerva is good enough to teach the new generation of Marauders.”

“I’d pay to see her face when she reads the name ‘Black’ on the First Year list.”

Sirius nods with a snort, turning his attention back to the baby. 

His heart beats faster every time she comes within view. He’s never quite imagined feeling so much towards such a tiny bundle of a person that he’s known for not more than three hours. That’s what parental love feels like, huh? This warm, fuzzy feeling in his heart that will grow along with her.

And he’s tearing up _again_.

“Have you guys chosen a name yet?” Lily asks. 

“Yeah,” Remus says, his face breaking into a bright smile as the baby in the cot stirs and opens her eyes. Sirius can tell he’s feeling exactly the same thing - the love and happiness unlike any other before. 

And they get to feel it together. Sirius can’t ever imagine starting a family with anybody else. It could ever only be them two.

“Navi Hope Black.” 

A new start for his name. No more of the cold households and broken families. The new house of Black will be different, he’ll make sure of it. She’ll grow up loved, unlike Sirius. She’ll have a good family - parents that love each other and love her, parents that care and show that they do. 

They can even make a new family tree. With himself and Remus, James and Lily, Regulus and his wife, Alphard, Andromeda and Ted and Dora. All the people that deserve to be there. 

And Navi. Their new little star. 

“We thought of Minerva for her second name, but decided to go with Hope,” Sirius says, smiling as Navi looks at him curiously. “Our second will be Minnie.”

“You’re already planning a second one?”

“I’m not doing this ever again, mind you. Lily can be the incubator that time.”

“I’ll see about that after I have this one,” she nods towards her stomach. “If it hurts as much as you say, they’ll have to find someone else.”

“She has your nose,” Sirius says quietly to Remus, letting the girls argue. 

Remus smiles at him. “And your hair. You were right about that.”

“Every Black has that hair, it’s only appropriate. It’s part of the charm, anyway. All the boys at Hogwarts will be throwing themselves at her feet.”

“If she’ll be even as half of a charmer as you are, that’s sure.”

Sirius takes his hand, his eyes never leaving their daughter. 

“This’ll be hard,” he laughs. 

“Yeah,” Remus agrees. “We’ll just wing it, like we do all the time.”

“Never failed us yet.”

Navi then spits out her binky and starts wailing.

“Sounds about right - loud as any Black I’ve met.”

“Hey!”

And so a new chapter in their life begins. Sirius can’t wait to see what’s it got in store for them.


	7. Twenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I thought, twenty years together, we’ve two kids now. Seems appropriate,” Sirius says with a laugh. “D’you like it?”
> 
> “I love it,” Remus says, his fingers tracing the tattoo - the animals bounce around his fingers in joy, one of the puppies even barking at it soundlessly.
> 
> Theme: 20th anniversary

Remus wakes up to a distant sound of someone - with a very distinct and incredibly good voice, might he add - singing Queen’s “Love Of My Life”. The sun is barely peaking through the curtains; the morning glow is gentle enough to tell him it’s early in the morning. 

He wiggles out of the cocoon of blankets he’s somehow created in his sleep - it’s almost unbelievable just how many blankets they’ve hoarded over the years -puts his slippers on (fluffy wolf slippers, complete with little ears and a tail - the whole family has an appropriate set of canine slippers, actually. Sirius thought it was too hilarious not to buy them), and shuffles downstairs towards the kitchen. 

Just as he expects, there’s his husband, shirtless, hair put up in a messy bun, swiftly maneuvering around the kitchen while singing along to himself. The table is set with a variety of foods - there’s bacon and eggs, pancakes, toast, yoghurt and fruit, a pot of coffee (for Sirius) and another of tea (for himself). The post lays there as well, for now untouched. There’s also a rather big bouquet of flowers in the centre; there’s roses, tulips, peonies, even lupines. 

Leave it to Sirius to ‘not make a big deal’ out of something.

“You’re up!” Sirius says to him, his face breaking into a bright smile at the sight of Remus. He dries his hands on a towel, throws it onto the counter, and walks up to place a quick kiss on Remus’s lips. “I made breakfast.”

“I see that,” he laughs. “You do remember the kids are in school and there’s no need to make breakfast for four people?”

“I’m perfectly aware they are,” Sirius hums as he gently kisses down Remus’s neck. “It’s a special day, though.”

Remus just nods, and then rolls his eyes when Sirius pulls up a chair for him.

“And they say chivalry is dead,” he laughs, reaching for the post as Sirius starts piling up his plate for him.

“Is there anything from Navi and Liam?”

“Yeah,” Remus goes to open that one first. He quickly gets through it, not bothering to read it all out loud - Navi likes to ramble, just like Sirius does. “Navi says she’s outraged at how ‘prefectly’ Liam is acting.”

“God, that’s just like me and James when you made Prefect,” Sirius laughs. “It’s good, though. He’s fit for it.”

“It’s nice to have something to be proud of, at least,” Remus comments. “A Ravenclaw Prefect. Don’t think Navi or Harry will ever do anything worthy of mentioning except maybe beat your detention record.”

“ _Excuse you,_ my daughter is going to be Quidditch Captain for Gryffindor soon enough, just you wait.”

“James certainly likes to think it’ll be his son.”

“James is a twat. It’ll be her, I can bet on it.” 

“You and your Quidditch,” Remus hums with a smile as he gets through the rest of the mail.

There’s nothing else worth pointing out - just their kids excitedly writing about new classes, school drama, and what they might be getting up to in the near future. Harry sent them a letter too - something he always does, just like Navi and Liam write to James and Lily. 

Even at this age, Remus can’t quite believe his luck. 

He remembers coming to Hogwarts, aged 11, scared and alone and with a burden of so many awful secrets on his shoulders. And then came James and Sirius and Peter and Lily, and even though there was drama, and then certain _revelations_ (in forms of himself and Sirius, and then, a little later, James and Lily), they made it through Hogwarts and after. They hadn’t drifted apart like Remus feared of, no - they became family.

And the little family of theirs only grew bigger. There was Navi, and then very soon after, Harry. Regulus and his wife, and their new baby boy. Liam, too, whom Navi befriended during her first year on the Hogwarts Express, who was the most polite and sweet boy, turned their daughter’s best friend, turned son when he suddenly left home two years back (just like Sirius had, once upon a time) and they took him in without a second thought.

At 36, Remus quite possibly has everything he’d ever want and more.

“Can I show you your gift now?” Sirius asks suddenly. 

Remus looks at him in confusion. “I thought we agreed on no gifts.”

“Yeah… I kinda lied.” Remus furrows at him. “It’s nothing big, I promise! It’s not even a physical item.”

He sighs in defeat. “Okay, what is it then?”

Sirius bounces in his seat, turns to face him, and starts undoing a bandage on his arm.

He came back with it yesterday, and Remus didn’t think much of it at all; yet another tattoo, and Sirius has _so many_ by now that Remus hardly ever asks about them anymore. 

This one, though, Remus doesn’t even need to ask about when he sees it. He can’t ask, even. His voice is caught in his chest.

Right there on Sirius’s upper arm is a wolf and a dog Remus has been well acquainted with - Sirius got it tattooed on their first anniversary, when he was 17 (and positively _insane -_ Remus yelled at him, then, telling Sirius it’s dumb to do that, since they’ve no idea if they’re even going to be together in five years and yet Sirius went ahead and got _that_ inked onto his skin).

Now, though, the wolf and dog are joined by two little puppies - one black just like the dog, with the same joy to its expression (just like Navi, who’s a breathing image of Sirius in so many ways); the other brown and tame (the same shade of Liam’s hair, even complete with the curls). It’s a magical tattoo, so the pack is moving; the dog is bouncing around with the black pup, while the wolf is licking the brown one. 

“I thought, twenty years together, we’ve two kids now. Seems appropriate,” Sirius says with a laugh. “D’you like it?”

“I love it,” Remus says, his fingers tracing the tattoo - the animals bounce around his fingers in joy, one of the puppies even barking at it soundlessly. “Sirius, that’s-”

“Shush, no getting emotional. I have like ten of these I got done for you. Thought it’s right about time to have a family one.”

Remus takes one more look at the ink, and then kisses Sirius longingly, only pulling away after he’s out of breath.

“I love you.”

“I love you too,” Sirius replies, and even after 20 years together, there’s still just as much honesty and youthful joy in his eyes - Remus is yet to tire of it. “Happy anniversary.”


	8. The bathroom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Oh. You… Moony?”
> 
> “Yeah.”
> 
> “Since when?”
> 
> “Always. But… mid fourth year, mostly.”
> 
> “Shit, I’m sorry.”
> 
> “It’s fine,” Sirius mumbles. It’s not. “I’ll get over it.”
> 
> “It’s been two years.”
> 
> “I will."
> 
> Theme: Jealousy/Unrequited love

“Sirius? Are you okay?”

 _Fuck_.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Sirius says quickly, trying his best to hide any evidence of the stupid outburst he’s just had, but for some fucking reason tears keep falling from his eyes.

“Can I come in?” James says, still in this quiet voice; he’s careful not to wake up Remus and Peter, thank Merlin. Sirius doesn’t want them to see him like this.

“No!” He doesn’t want _James_ to see him like this either. “I’m just… my stomach hurts. I’ll be out in a bit,” he says, even though he knows James can tell it’s all bullshit. If anyone could, it’d always be James.

“Is it your family?”

“It’s nothing,” Sirius chokes out, not being able to hide the sobs escaping him. And James definitely hears that. “Prongs, _please_ , just fuck off.”

James doesn’t fuck off. James is a heroic twat and lets himself into the bathroom.

And there Sirius is, sitting on the floor below the sinks, heads in his knees, face red from crying - he doubts James can see that though, since the only light in the bathroom is the faint moonlight coming through the window. 

James sighs quietly, closes the door, and puts a silencing charm - Sirius realized he forgot to do that before. He’s usually good at remembering it (he hates to admit it, but he’s made a habit of crying in the bathroom late into the night), but he was a mess all day today, so it completely slipped from his mind.

“What happened?” James walks up and sits down next to him.

Sirius sniffs and turns his head away. “‘M telling you, nothing did.”

“It couldn’t have been nothing if you’re sobbing on the bathroom floor.”

“Not sobbing. Just…,” Sirius can’t, in fact, find a less embarrassing word for it.

“ _Sobbing_. So, spill. What’s up? Is it your family? Are they writing to you again?”

“No.”

“Is something up with Regulus?

“No, I told you it’s nothing.”

“It’s obviously _something._ You can tell me, Sirius. I won’t laugh or anything.”

Sirius stays quiet for a moment, only sniffling every now and again. At least he’s managed to stop crying, for now. He doesn’t want to talk about, though. It seems so _stupid_. But then again, he’s so tired of crying himself silly about it, and maybe talking would help.

And James already knows all of his worst secrets anyway. He knows about his family, and him being gay. What’s one more?

“It’s Moony,” Sirius mumbles into his knees, pulling himself into an even smaller ball. 

“Moony? The fuck did he do to you?”

“He didn’t _do_ anything. It’s-… it’s his stupid fucking boyfriend,” Sirius laughs bitterly.

“William? What’d _he_ do?”

“He fucking _exists_ , that’s what he did!” he says, tad too loud. James blinks at him in a silent question.

There’s a moment of quiet thinking between them, and then James draws in a breath.

“Oh. You… Moony?”

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“Always. But… mid fourth year, mostly.”

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Sirius mumbles. _It’s not_. “I’ll get over it.”

“It’s been two years.”

“I will. Eventually. I just… it’s fine, mostly. It’s just when they’re being stupidly gross it fucking _hurts,_ ” he chokes on another sob. “I always had fucking daydreams about it being me. Me that gets to kiss him and hold his hand and take him to Hogsmeade. I had a fucking stupid idea in my head that somehow we’d end up together and all would be happy. Not fucking likely anymore,” his voice cracks, and tears start spilling again. 

James hugs him, then. It doesn’t make it all that better - certainly won’t fix the fucking ache he’s feeling in his chest, because he’s 16 and heartbreak seems like the end of the world right now - but in the moment, it helps. There’s a warmth, a soothing force to someone knowing, and it’s stronger because it’s _James._ Cause he knows James won’t be a prat about it. He’s a prat about a lot of things, but he won’t mention this, Sirius is sure.

“Would having someone make you feel better? Marlene says the Ravenclaw Keeper has a crush on you. He’s cute, apparently.”

“It wouldn’t feel right. Not right now, anyway,” Sirius says into James’s shoulder. “Maybe later. When I’m over it.”

“Will you be okay tomorrow? When Wi- he sits with us at breakfast?”

 _No._ “I have to be,” Sirius replies. “Don’t want Moony noticing.”

He feels James nod, and then he hugs him a little bit tighter.

“We’ll find you a guy you’ll like and then you’ll forget about it.”

“Mhm,” Sirius hums, because honestly, what can he say?

It doesn’t feel like he can forget about it anytime soon. Or ever, even.

At least Remus is happy. Not because of Sirius, but he’s happy. Merlin knows he deserves it, so Sirius will suck it up, and simply pretend to be happy for him.


	9. Love Of My Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Reggie, I’m in love,” he says instantly, not taking his eyes off of this angel of a man. He’s got the smile of an angel, anyway. And hair, too - angels have curls, that’s just scientific.
> 
> “The fuck are you on about?”
> 
> Theme: Cafe meet-cute

Sirius is running on two hours of sleep within the last 48 hours, seven cups of coffee - _or was it eight? -_ and too much Panic! At The Disco when he meets the love of his life. 

Now, mind you, he’s only 19, and he doesn’t even know the guy, but he already _knows_ they’re bound to fall in love, get married, buy a house with a picket fence and have three children. And a dog. A big dog.

Anyway. The point is - _love of his life_. Right there in this small, suburban cafe. 

“Reggie, I’m in love,” he says instantly, not taking his eyes off of this angel of a man. He’s got the smile of an angel, anyway. And hair, too - angels have curls, that’s just scientific.

“The fuck are you on about?” his brother replies, with too much snarky confidence for a 15 year old. He’s been spending too much time with Lily, Sirius reckons. Bad influence and whatnot, that girl.

“That guy in the corner,” Sirius still hasn’t taken his eyes off him, by the way. “The curly haired one, with the laptop. And don’t swear.”

“Who’s he? Like a boyfriend or something? I’m leaving if you dragged me here just to make out with your stupid boyfriend, you were supposed to help me study!”

“What? No, he’s not my boyfriend, I’ve literally never seen him before.”

Regulus blinks. “And yet you say you’re in love?”

“Yes, I’m quite positive I am. Don’t you think our kids would look beautiful?”

“You’re insane.”

“You think they’ll have curls? I hope they will. Or the freckles.”

Regulus sighs and runs his hand through his hair - now that’s a habit he’s picked from James. Sirius really needs to find more respectable friends to hang with when he’s minding his little brother. Not like Regulus really needs minding to anymore, but still, Sirius is responsible for him, so he guesses he should find some positive influences.

Love Of His Life seems like a good sort, which is fantastic. Sirius can bet he studies something smart like literature. Or maybe physics. 

“Listen,” Reg says, punching him in the arm. “You’re a fucking mess but-”

“Don’t swear,” Sirius says, absentmindedly - he’s really wondering what Love Of His Life’s taste in music is. He seems like an Ed Sheeran type, and Sirius definitely doesn’t mind that. He could learn some Ed Sheeran songs on his guitar - that’s quite romantic, isn’t it?

“- go ask him out or whatever. I’ll get us something, and then you’re helping me.”

With that, and an eye roll - honestly, _way_ too much time with Lily - he leaves Sirius to his own. 

Usually, Sirius wouldn’t just saunter towards a guy _that_ fucking cute, oh no, he’d need some sort of back up or pep talk, from James, preferably. But today, he’s a mess, and lack of sleep makes him incredibly reckless and equally detached from reality, so indeed, he walks towards the table.

Love Of His Life looks up at him when he sits down on the other side, confusion spread on his face.

“Hi,” Sirius says, smiling. He hopes he doesn’t look as messy as he feels - his hair might be a bit wild, but he’s been told that looks hot, so he figures it’s fine. 

“Hi?” Love Of His Life replies.

“So I noticed you sitting here, and I thought I’d say hi. Which I already did. But still. Hello.”

He raises a brow at Sirius. So Sirius, as he tends to do when both sleep deprived and thoroughly caffeinated, just keeps on talking. 

“I’m here with my brother - helping him with homework, like a responsible older sibling and all that jazz. What are you working on? I bet it’s something smart - you look smart, at least. It’s the jumper, y’know? You wouldn’t mind if we sat with you, maybe? I just thought - you’re sitting alone, I wouldn’t mind the company, for sure, and you seem smart and nice so who knows, maybe Reggie will learn something - I’m the one that’s supposed to be teaching him but I know fuckall about history, honestly - I’m doing art, actually. Are you a history guy? You seem like a history guy?”

“I’m so sorry for him,” Regulus says, sitting down next to Sirius - and kicking him, definitely on purpose. He sets down a cup of coffee for Sirius, and a hot chocolate for himself. 

“Is he high?” Love Of His Life asks. Sirius giggles to himself.

“He’s sleep deprived and had too much coffee. And also he’s gay.”

Love Of His Life blinks at that. “And that’s relevant how…?”

“Well, he gets like that around guys he likes. Idiotic, I mean.”

“Oh,” Love Of His Life seems startled, but Sirius can see a blush on his face, and he’s suddenly not mad at Regulus being here anymore. 

“Are you single?” Sirius asks, because again - too much caffeine. Whatever filter he has is long gone. 

“I really am sorry, he’s a fucking twat when he doesn’t sleep.”

“Swearing, Reggie.”

“You swear all the time!”

“I’m the big brother, I can.”

“And yet I have to do this shit for you,” Regulus says with a huff. “Listen. He likes you, and I promise, he’s actually surprisingly tolerable when he’s had enough sleep and no one lets him touch caffeine. So if you’d humour him and give him your number, or whatever, we’d get out of our hair now.”

Love Of His Life blinks in confusion again. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Sirius cocks his head in what he hopes the guy considers cute. “Don’t be like that. If you’re not gay, I get it. But if you are - even a little bit, what’s there to dislike about me, huh? I’m obviously the best looking guy you’ll ever find.”

“And bloody humble too,” Regulus mumbles to himself - Sirius kicks him.

Love Of His Life - Sirius should find a shorter nickname, or ask for his name - laughs at that.

“I don’t really care much for appearance.”

“Oh, everybody says that but deep down I’m sure you wouldn’t hate dating someone with a face like mine.”

“I’m blind.”

 _Oh_. 

“Shit,” Regulus says - Sirius kicks him again, more out of habit than anything - “sorry, I-”

“I get it, hard to notice. I don’t mind,” he smiles that cute, soft smile again - Sirius remembers why he fell in love all that 15 minutes ago. “Are you still so set on dating me?”

“Yes,” Sirius says without a further thought. “I don’t care. I’m in love with you.”

Angel - shorter, but still not ideal - laughs again. “Leave that for when we know each other a bit more and maybe you’ve had more sleep.”

“Get used to this,” Regulus sighs. “Clinical insomnia, and all. Happens rather often.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he says softly. “So, Regulus, you said?”

“And my idiot brother is Sirius.”

“Parents were really into stars, huh?”

“You could say that,” Regulus mumbles half-heartedly. 

Their family is still something they rarely talk about. Ever since they left home - the moment Sirius turned 18, he packed their most important belongings and dragged Regulus out of that hellhole - it was something they just didn’t speak of. It’s a bit less touchy, now, but they mutually agree it’s best left alone, to discuss at a later date, maybe when Reggie is a bit older. 

“Mine were into mythology. It’s Remus.”

Sirius smiles brightly, and Regulus groans. 

“Stop being so gay,” Reg hisses. 

Remus laughs. “You said you’re learning history, right?”

“Yup. French revolution at the moment.”

“Just so happens I’m majoring in history. How about Sirius gets me a hot chocolate, and I’ll help you out?”

Sirius blinks. So does Regulus.

“Will you go on a date with me, then?”

Remus shuts his laptop and scoots a bit closer to them.

“Let’s start with my number first. Ask me again when you’re functioning like a normal human again.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've turned this drabble into a full on fic! you can read it [here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22365736)


	10. The dog shelter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With James and his broken leg (Sirius had almost nothing to do with that particular accident), their parents need someone to help Sirius out with running the shelter: a full-time employee rather than a typical volunteer, til James can come back and resume his usual role. Sirius vaguely remembers mum telling them over dinner that a friend of hers has a son (or was it a nephew? Or cousin?) who’s willing to help out.
> 
> Somehow, she forgot to mention he’s hot.
> 
> Theme: Working at a dog shelter

“Sirius! Honey, come here, will you? I need someone to show Remus around!”

Sirius - 21 years old, soon to start his last year of his BDe in illustration, dreams of one day opening his own tattoo parlour, and helps out his adoptive parents in their animal shelter whenever he’s not in classes - is currently battling a very stubborn Husky going by the name of Kettle. Just so happens it’s the week of bathing all the dogs, and Kettle would quicker chew through the lock on her kennel rather than surrender herself to Sirius and his (evil, apparently) bath sponges.

“Your lucky day, girl,” Sirius says, exiting the kennel, making sure he’s taken all the bathing supplies with him - they wouldn’t last very long if he’d leave them alone with a pup Husky. “But I’m not done with you!” he eyes the dog, who barks at him. Cute, that one, despite being hellishly stubborn. “Just you wait, we’re getting you into the bath today if it’s the last damn thing I do.”

“Sirius!”

“Coming, mum!” he yells back, finds a cloth to quickly wipe his hands (there’s fur just about _everywhere,_ and the fact his preferred colour of choice is black doesn’t help - he looks like a cheap rug), and runs to the front of the shelter.

With James and his broken leg (Sirius had _almost_ nothing to do with that particular accident), their parents need someone to help Sirius out with running the shelter: a full-time employee rather than a typical volunteer, til James can come back and resume his usual role. Sirius vaguely remembers mum telling them over dinner that a friend of hers has a son (or was it a nephew? Or cousin?) who’s willing to help out.

Somehow, she forgot to mention he’s _hot._ And exactly Sirius’s type, too. And that’s something Sirius would’ve loved to know beforehand, so their first meeting wasn’t with him covered in dog hair, wearing one of his oldest, most worn out t-shirts, and with his hair up in the most unattractive up-do known to mankind.

“Oh, there you are!” his mum, currently talking to Curly Hair And Freckles, waves him over. “That’s my other son, Sirius. If you’ve any problems or issues, if you’re not sure what to do - he’s the one to talk to. Sirius, be a darling and show Remus here around.”

“No problem at all,” Sirius smiles charmingly (it would’ve been more charming if he didn’t have dirt on his cheek). “I’d shake your hand but it’s bath day and I’d rather not get you dirty.”

“Oh, that’s fine,” Remus says - his voice is warm, with an accent Sirius can’t quite place. Northern Irish? “I don’t mind getting a bit dirty.”

Sirius blinks, losing his composure. _This hot guy didn’t just flirt with him, right?_

The tour of the building is very pleasant - and indeed, Remus seems to be catching onto Sirius’s flirting and flirts right back. Not that Sirius finds that particularly surprising (he’s aware of his appearance, plus he’s got a rainbow tattoo on his forearm, so him being gay isn’t much of a secret), but it’s flattering nevertheless, especially that Remus is very much what he’d look for in a boyfriend.

When they’re done with the tour, Sirius deposits Remus in the office to sign some paper; Sirius plans to go back to battling Kettle, but his mum stops him at the reception.

“He’ll fit right in, don’t you think?” she asks.

“Yeah, definitely. Seems to like animals, so that’s the most important.”

“His mum says he likes boys too,” mum flashes him a grin. Sirius blinks. “You two seem to be getting along. And Hope says he’s single.”

“Mum-”

“You like him, at least.”

“I do not!” She cocks her head and raises her brows. “Okay, maybe I do, but that doesn’t mean anything. You don’t have to go out of your way to get me a boyfriend, Ma. I’m fine.”

“You should ask him out,” his mum elbows him - he groans in annoyance, which just makes her grin harder. “There’s no harm in that!”

“Yes there is! I’m gonna work with him for two months! It’ll make things awkward and we’re here every day for seven to twelve hours.”

“I just want you to be happy, love,” she puts her hand on his. Sirius smiles - he can’t be mad at her, ever. “Give it some thought, okay? Remus is a very nice boy, I think you two would make a good couple.”

“I’ll think about it.”

*

Sirius is mid-way through scrubbing Kettle - who’s trying her best to get away any opportunity she gets - when the backdoor opens behind him.

“Need any help?”

He turns to see Remus leaning against the wall, an amused smile on his face (and a cute one, too).

“Would be lovely, yeah,” Sirius replies. He’d love to stare at Remus more, but Kettle almost slips past him, so he goes to stop her - he gets his whole shirt wet and soapy, but he can’t care by this point.

“Doesn’t like baths?”

“Hates them. Her name’s Kettle and I love her to death, even if she’s a bit of a goblin. Get the conditioner for me while you’re there, it’s on the shelf to your left. The sooner we’re done, the sooner she can roll around in the mud again.”

Sirius is extremely determined to ignore their hands brushing against each other through the whole process of soaping and then drying the dog. He’s also determined to ignore just how his stomach squeezes whenever that happens.

“You don’t happen to have a spare t-shirt, maybe?” Remus laughs awkwardly, pointing towards his chest. Just like Sirius, he’s covered in dog hair, soap, and water (Sirius refuses to let Remus’s shirt clinging to his body affect him. He’s not 17 anymore, he’s not about to get hot and bothered by something so stupid).

“Oh yeah, sure, in the staff room,” Sirius replies absentmindedly, grabbing the key to the staff room. His mum has probably gone home by now, so it’s best to have a key in case it’s closed.

He leaves the bath area (it has a more sophisticated name, but it’s not like he ever remembers it) with Remus behind him, going through the narrow corridors of the shelter.

“You’ll have to get used to the dog hair, I’m afraid,” he throws. “It’s always good to have at least one spare outfit in the locker. There’s very unfortunate accidents sometimes.”

“Oh, I know. I foster a lot,” Remus replies, once they’re inside the staff room. For the umpteenth time in his life, Sirius curses just how small the space is. “I’m quite used to having dog fur on me 24/7.”

“You’re a great addition, then,” Sirius smiles at him briefly, before going to dig through his locker. He picks one of the shirts he has he thinks will fit Remus. Although similar in height, Sirius thinks his shoulders are a bit broader, so it might end up a bit big on Remus still. “Hope you like Queen.”

“One of my favourite bands, actually.”

Sirius nods in approval, and tries to focus on changing on his own instead of staring at Remus. He mostly succeeds. But also confirms his theory that Remus’s entire body is covered in small freckles.

Once he’s back in clean clothes (or, well… relatively clean. His entire wardrobe has a permanent layer of dog hair on it), Sirius sighs and goes on to mentally slap himself for what he’s about to do. He’s either going to prove his mother very wrong, or have to deal with her ‘I told you so’ til his dying day.

“Are you free right now?” he says quickly, before he can change his mind. “D’you maybe wanna grab a coffee with me? There’s a good Italian place down the road. They do desserts, too, if you like sweets.”

Remus blinks at him, and Sirius is ready to regret all of his life choices and migrate to France, but then his mouth breaks out in a very gentle smile.

“Are you asking me out on a date, by any chance?”

“Would you be terribly upset if I were?”

“Well… you like dogs. You like Queen. You have long hair, which I’ve been told I have a thing for-” Sirius smiles at that, his hand brushing through his hair in response. “-and I’m very curious about that one Celtic tattoo. So… I’d rather be happy if you did decide to make it a date.”

“One question, though,” Sirius flashes his signature grin - and hopes Remus finds it at least half as attractive as everyone tells him it is. “Do you let people take you home on the first date?”

Remus raises his brows in amusement, but his smile doesn’t falter. Sirius feels his heart skip.

“If you pay for dessert.”


	11. The Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You can’t possibly think I’d rather be with her than with you. I don’t care about her.”
> 
> Remus chuckles, curling into a ball. He looks so fragile. So out of place, on this huge bed, surrounded by expensive sheets and pillows.
> 
> “You should. She’s to be your wife.”
> 
> Theme: Royal/commoner AU

Sirius waits til his mother is busy talking to yet another foreign minister til he makes a break for it and hurries through the palace. Corridor after corridor, making sure no one sees him, until he rushes into his bedroom and locks the door closed. 

Remus is there, sat on the bed, just like when Sirius had left for the party.

“Why aren’t you with her?” is all Remus says. He doesn’t meet Sirius’s eye; doesn’t even raise his head.

Sirius sighs. “You can’t possibly think I’d rather be with her than with you. I don’t care about her.”

Remus chuckles, curling into a ball. He looks so fragile. So out of place, on this huge bed, surrounded by expensive sheets and pillows.

“You should. She’s to be your _wife._ ”

Sirius walks up to him, sitting by his side, his arm coming around Remus’s shoulder, pulling him into an embrace.

“I still don’t care about her, you should know that. I won’t ever be able to care for a woman. Not like _that_.”

Remus inhales sharply, and turns to bury his face in Sirius’s chest. It can’t be comfortable - not with the expensive military suit Sirius was told to wear, with an abundance of buttons and pins, all as if Sirius accomplished great things and not just due to being born to the Queen. He starts slowly running his fingers through Remus’s hair as he lies back to a half-lying position, propped by all the pillows stacked on his bed. 

“Even if I end up marrying her,” Sirius starts. “I love you. And you only.”

“You say that as if you have a choice. You _will_ marry her. Your mother’s word is law, and she wants you wed.”

“There’s still time til the wedding. I’ll think of something.”

He has been thinking, for weeks now. Him and James and Lily and Peter, all of them have been going out of their way to think of some way to get Sirius out of the mess he’d been born into. They haven’t come up with anything for now. And they’re running out of time.

“You won’t,” Remus laughs bitterly. “I think we just have to come to terms with that. We can’t be together.”

“Remus-”

“No.” He pulls away, pushing himself to be as far away from Sirius as possible. “We knew it from the beginning. You and I are as different as can be, Sirius. It wasn’t meant to be forever, cause it wasn’t meant to be at all. You should marry her, live _this_ life, the life you were meant to live. Be happy.”

“Do you really think I’m happy?” Sirius asks with disbelief. “Honestly? Do you think I enjoy this? Being _the_ Prince? Yes, I’ll admit, I like the riches. I like the servants, and the comfy pillows, and all the food, and not having to worry about my money. But it all turns worthless when all I am is a pawn on my mother’s chessboard. I don’t want this, I _never_ wanted this! I’ll never be happy like this.”

Sirius scoots himself close to Remus again, taking his hands in his.

“The only way I’d ever be really happy is if I could be with you. Marry _you_ , not some random princess whose name I don’t even remember. That’s all that could ever make me really, truly happy. _You._ ”

Remus brings his hand up to Sirius’s cheek, caressing his soft skin - his eyes are glistening wet, Sirius notices.

“There’s no way to make it work,” he whispers.

“I’ll think of something,” Sirius replies, resting his forehead against Remus’s. “I’ll find a way, I promise.”


	12. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Missing out on playtime just to say hi to daddy, huh?” Sirius says, his voice high and affectionate as he holds Leo up to squint at him with a smile. 
> 
> “Bwah!” is Leo’s only reply, followed by more giggles. Sirius’s smile is so wide it hurts.
> 
> Theme: family fluff + wolfstar with twins

It takes a twenty minute long delay in traffic, a gigantic puddle of mud being splashed all over the side of his car, and a gaggle of too many teenagers running through the street before Sirius gets home, at 7.14 in the morning.

He is, to put it simply, _exhausted._ Twelve hours of dealing with weird rashes, people vomiting blood on the floor (three times, it happened _three fucking times_ during Sirius’s shift that night), and this one teenager that broke his arm so badly even Sirius flinched at the sight. And he’s been running on almost no sleep all night, too, with that being his first night shift of the new rotation. Always the worst out of all of them, since he needs to adjust to the pattern. 

Sirius steps out of the car and drags himself inside the house with a deep sigh, already kicking off his shoes and throwing his jacket onto the nearest available surface (which just happens to be a small cabinet full of random crap that Sirius promised to clean out but never did). The house is quiet when he’s walking through the corridor and into the bathroom - an unusual thing. Typically when he’s back home after nights, it’s already noisy. 

He quickly steps into the shower, washes himself, and then hops into a fresh change of clothes; it’s all mechanical by that point. He’s way too tired to recognise what he’s doing, so he lets his muscle memory lead the way. And once he actually smells like a normal person, and his hair is semi-dry, he finally jogs upstairs to the bedroom, ready to sleep the night off and forget all about it til he inevitably has to go back to work in the evening. 

Though, as Sirius is stepping into the bedroom, he’s not greeted with the usual messy and very empty bed, no. There’s a sight that makes his chest warm and heart beat quicker.

“Hey,” Remus says to him, smiling in that gentle way he does whenever Sirius is back from the hospital. He’s laid on the bed, atop of the covers, still in his pj’s. “We thought we’d wait here for you today. We missed you.” A loud pair of giggles follows, Remus nodding in agreement to them with a chuckle.

Sirius can’t not smile at the sight of his husband and their children, one laying on Remus’s chest, the other half-sitting against a pillow (Sirius can’t believe they actually sit, almost _by themselves_ by now; it feels like yesterday when they couldn’t even roll around lying down). He hardly ever sees them all when he’s got work; with shifts that last 10-12 hours, then having to sleep it all off. After that, there’s so few hours left to spend time with his family before he’s due to be back in the A&E. It never feels like he’s home long enough.

He immediately scoops Leo up from the bed and into his arms, dropping small kisses all over the boy’s face, cherishing the sound of little, six month old laughter filling up the room.

“Missing out on playtime just to say hi to daddy, huh?” Sirius says, his voice high and affectionate as he holds Leo up to squint at him with a smile. 

“Bwah!” is Leo’s only reply, followed by more giggles. Sirius’s smile is so wide it hurts.

There’s a little sniffling sound followed by a very upset noise of protest, and Sirius finds himself laughing as he shifts Leo to his hip, so he can then sit on the bed and scoop up Nix as well.

“It’s fine, don’t fuss, I didn’t forget about you,” he kisses her little cheeks, earning a laugh in return. “Have you been good, huh? Didn’t give your daddy trouble at night?”

“Not at all,” Remus replies, sitting up, now that he can. He sits resting against the wall and watches the three of them. “There’s been some disagreements about bedtime, but overall it was a good night.”

“Oh, you two are so big now you don’t have to stick to your bedtime, huh?” Sirius maneuvers so the twins are seated at his lap, slightly bouncing them in place. “Two little grownups, I see.”

“I think they’ve just missed you. Not quite the same with just me reading the bedtime stories.”

“You just don’t do the voices quite right. I didn’t do that one semester of musical theatre for nothing.”

Remus rolls his eyes with a sigh, but he’s got a warm smile on his face. “Good day at work?”

“As exhausting as usual. Nothing terrible, though. Some gross stuff, if you feel up for that later.”

Remus laughs. “Always. You know I love to hear all about those fun rashes when we have dinner.” He then leans forward to kiss Sirius shortly. “Missed you.”

“Missed you too. I’ve got the weekend free though, and then a week of just the afternoon.”

“Can’t wait. You’re on nappy duties.” 

Sirius laughs, his eyes going down to the twins happily bouncing on his knees. 

“No problem for me there. And we can go to the park, too, if the weather is nice.”

“I’ll ask Lily if she wants to make it a play date with Harry.”

Sirius is leaning forward to kiss his husband again, this time longer. He’s met with a very unhappy noise; not from Remus though. He leans back laughing.

“Is someone jealous?” he tickles Phoenix’s stomach, making the girl squirm and giggle. “Don’t like your dads kissing, huh? Nooo, you want all the kisses to yourself, I assume. Greedy little thing.”

“She’s got that after you.”

“Hey!” he elbows Remus slightly. He means to bite back, but a yawn escapes him instead. 

“Ah, that’s our cue. We’re going downstairs now.” Remus crawls to the other side of the bed, standing up and taking Leo, then letting Sirius hand him Nix. “Daddy’s had a long night, we’re gonna go play on our own.”

“Wake me up in a few? Before lunch?”

Remus kisses his forehead with a sigh. “You’ve been working all night-”

“I know. I just don’t wanna leave you to deal with them all by yourself when I’m home. You know I hate that.”

“You’re working hard, I can handle them while you’re sleeping it off, it’s fine.”

Sirius collapses onto the bed in a manner that’s entirely too dramatic, making Remus chuckle. “I’ve decided I’m asking for a year off when my boss gets back from her holiday. And you _can’t_ change my mind about it. I’d much rather change nappies than pull out batteries from people’s-”

“Okay, we’re going to leave now, don’t need them to hear that.”

Sirius chuckles and waves as Remus finally exits the bedroom, talking to Nix and Leo about all the things they’re going to be doing downstairs, leaving Sirius to himself. 

He falls asleep to the faint sounds of a Disney movie and rattling of toys, thinking about just how lucky he is to have his family.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to suggest a drabble theme to me on tumblr: @casualmaraudering 💕


End file.
